Rarebit Choux pastry

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For the choux pastry

  • Choux Pastry
  • 85 ml / 3 fl. oz water
  • 85 ml / 3 fl. oz milk
  • 65g / 2½ oz butter
  • 100g / 3½ oz plain flour or gluten free plain flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan

Method

  1. Dissolve the butter in the water and milk and bring to the boil. Tip in the flour and stir over the heat until the mixture comes away from the side of the pan. Leave to cool a little.
  2. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
  3. Heat the oven to 200°C, ESSE dial reading middle of HOT. Line baking sheets with baking paper, then pipe small 4cm high blobs of pastry onto the sheets, spaced a little apart. Sprinkle lightly with Parmesan then bake for 20 minutes until puffed and golden.

For the filling

  • 300g strong cheese, grated
  • 1½ tsp English mustard
  • Large splash Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 medium egg yolks
  • 120ml good quality local beer

Method

  1. Boil the beer and reduce it down to a tablespoon in volume.
  2. Whizz all the filling ingredients to a thick paste using a food processor.
  3. Put the mixture in a piping bag fitted with a very narrow nozzle.
  4. When the gougères are golden, remove from the oven. As soon as you can handle them, poke a hole in the base of each one with a metal skewer, then pipe no more than 1 tsp filling into each one.
  5. Set the gougères upright again and return to the oven for 5-8 minutes until deep golden.
  6. Remove from the oven, leave to stand for 2-3 minutes, then serve, warning people to watch out for the hot filling.

Recipe provided by Philippa Vine, Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen.

Florentines

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This recipe highlights the gentle method of melting of the butter and chocolate on an ESSE induction hob, no water bath required.

Ingredients

  • 150g flaked almonds
  • 50g butter, melted
  • 40g plain flour
  • 90g caster sugar
  • 120ml double cream
  • 30ml honey
  • 115g dried fruit
  • 50g dark chocolate

Method

  1. Cooking them in the ESSE oven at 170C / ESSE dial reading to be in the middle of MODERATE.
  2. Mix all the ingredients together.
  3. Spoon into round non stick tins, flatten down with the back of the spoon.
  4. Bake for about 15 to 20 mins until golden.
  5. Remove from oven, allow to cool.
  6. Remove from the tin and place on a cooling rack.
  7. Melt chocolate and coat the flat side of the florentine. Chill to set the chocolate.

Recipe provided by Philippa Vine, Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen.

Bunny Biscuits

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Children will enjoy making these buttery biscuits with currants and spice for family and friends. They are also perfect to wrap gifts.

Makes

20 – 25

Ingredients

  • 125g softened butter
  • 75g caster sugar, plus 1-2 tbsp extra for sprinkling
  • 1 egg, separated
  • 200g plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
  • grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 75g currants
  • 2 tbsp milk

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Esse Dial Guide HOT. (Aim for the dial reading to be in the middle of HOT).
  2. Beat the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk then gently stir in the flour, cinnamon, mixed spice, lemon zest and currants. Gradually stir in the milk until the dough starts to come together… you may need slightly less or more of the milk.
  3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out until about 5mm thick then stamp out the biscuits using a round 7.5cm cutter or shape of your choice.
  4. Place on 2-3 greased baking trays and cook in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven. Whisk the egg white just a little to break up, brush lightly over the biscuits and sprinkle with the caster sugar. Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until just golden. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
  5. Store in an airtight tin for 2-3 days.

Get ahead!

The biscuits can be made ahead and stored in an airtight tin for 2-3 days. Freshen by placing them in a warm oven for 3-4 minutes.

Recipe created by Carol Bowen Ball the UK’s first bariatric cook.

My ESSE Loaf

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Cooking bread in the Esse is an absolute joy. I love it. I don’t bother with loaf tins I just shape the bread, give it a final prove and get it straight on the floor of the hot oven. Cooking it this way gives the most fantastic crust with a deeper, well developed flavour.

You’ll need to crank the oven up high bread; the higher part of ‘very hot’ is good.

This is my standard loaf that I make at home.

Serves

N/A

Ingredients

  • 750g white strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 250g whole meal flour
  • 10g powdered dried yeast
  • 20g fine salt
  • 600ml warm water
  • A little sunflower oil

Method

Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and, with one hand, mix to a rough dough. Adjust the consistency if you need to, with a little more flour or water, to make a soft, easily kneadable, sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and clean your hands.

Knead until the dough is smooth, stretchy and no longer sticky – about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a tight round. Oil the surface of the dough, put it in the wiped-out mixing bowl, cover the bowl with cling film and leave to ferment and rise until doubled in size, which should take about an hour.

Pre-heat the oven get the dial up to very hot. Deflate the dough by tipping it onto the work surface and pressing all over with your hands.

Divide the dough into 2 or 3 equal pieces. Shape into nice even rounds, coat with whole meal flour and Leave to prove for a further 30 minutes, or until nearly doubled in size.

Use a bread knife the gently score the loaves across their tops, this will help them to rise in the oven. Make sure your oven floor is clean and free of racks. Carefully lift each loaf and place on the floor of the oven, being careful not to burn yourself as you go.

Cook for 40 to 50 minutes, until well coloured. Remove the loaves and cool on a wire rack.

Nettle and sheep’s cheese tart

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Serves

Six people

Ingredients

  • 1x 8″ loose base tart case

For the short crust

  • 150 g of butter
  • 300 g plain flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 egg yolk
  • About 150ml cold milk

For the filling

  • About 750 g of picked nettle tips that have been washed
  • 1 large organic onion finely sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic or 3 – 6 wild garlic leaves finely chopped
  • 100g hard sheep’s or goat’s cheese grated
  • 1 pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • A good knob of butter
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • Squeeze of lemon juice
  • 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks
  • 200ml cream
  • 100ml milk

Method

To make the short crust

Place the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and pulse to a bread crumb consistency.

Add the egg yolk followed by the milk in a gradual stream.

Stop as soon as the doe comes together.

Turn out and knead a couple of times.

Wrap and chill in the fridge for half an hour.

Roll out the pastry and line your tart case. Leave the edges over hanging. (You can cut these off later. I find this eliminates the need for baking beans)

Prick the base with a fork and bake blind for about 15 mins on the floor of the top oven reading ‘HOT’. (This will help to dry out the pastry base) or until the base is dry but not coloured. Trim the edges.

The filling

Blanch the nettle tips in boiling water for 2 mins. Remove and refresh in a large bowl of iced water. Drain and squeeze excess water from the nettles.

Roughly chop the nettles. Melt the butter in a pan over heat and soften, lightly colour the onion, chilli and garlic. Add the chopped nettles and season with lemon juice salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Spoon the filling into the tart case, top with the cheese.

Combine your eggs and yolks with the cream and season to taste.

Fill the tart case with the custard.

Bake straight away at 180c for about half an hour.

The custard should be just set when you shake the tin.

Allow it to cool before you eat it. It’s much better then.

Smoked pollack and spinach tart

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A firm River Cottage favourite. It ranks up there with fish pie for comfort food but, as it’s a bit more stylish and doesn’t have any potato in it, we serve it as a starter course. Be careful not to overcook the fish, it really only takes about 5 minutes.

Serves

Four to six people

Ingredients

Shortcrust pastry

  • 250g plain flour
  • 125g cold organic butter, cut into small cubes
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 egg yolk, plus beaten egg for glazing
  • About 100ml cold milk

Filling

  • 1 smoked pollack fillet, about 200g
  • Up to 1 litre whole milk
  • Knob of butter
  • 2 English onions, finely sliced
  • A large handful of young spinach
  • 100g mature cheddar, grated
  • 250ml double cream
  • 2 medium eggs, plus 2 medium yolks, lightly beaten
  • Salt and pepper

Method

To make the pastry, put the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and pulse until the mixture has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk, start the processor again and start adding the milk in a thin stream. Watch carefully and stop adding the milk as soon as the dough comes together. Tip out of the processor, knead a couple of times to create a smooth ball of dough, then wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170/gas 3/ESSE dial reading MODERATE. Roll out the pastry thinly and use to line a 25cm-diameter tart tin with a removable base. Leave the excess pastry hanging over the edge.

Prick the base in several places with a fork. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the pastry looks dry and cooked. Remove from the oven, brush the pastry with beaten egg, then return to the oven and bake until golden (about 5 minutes). This helps to seal the pastry and prevent any of the tart filling leaking out. Trim off the excess pastry with a small, very sharp knife. Leave the oven at 170/gas 3/ESSE dial reading MODERATE.

Put the pollack in a pan and pour over enough milk to just cover it. Bring the milk to a simmer. Taking care not to let the milk boil, cook the fish just until it will come apart in flakes – about 5 minutes. Remove the fish from the milk and leave to cool. Don’t discard the milk – strain it and set aside.

While the pollack is cooling, heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the onions. Fry gently, without letting them brown, until soft. Drop the spinach into a pan of boiling water and cook until wilted. Drain and, once cool enough to handle, squeeze dry and chop.

Flake the pollack into a bowl and add the grated cheddar, onions and spinach. Mix well, then put the mixture into the tart case. Mix 250ml of the strained fish poaching milk with the cream and eggs. Season with salt and pepper and pour over the pollack mixture.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until set and browned. Serve warm or cold.

Warm Salad of roast squash and pan fried mushrooms

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Serves

Four people

Ingredients

  • 1 medium squash
  • 12 sage leaves
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • Olive oil
  • 50 g butter
  • 250g of fresh ceps or other boletus
  • Small bunch of wild rocket washed
  • 200g soft blue cheese such as Roquefort or Saint Agure
  • French dressing to serve

Method

Peel a large squash, such as Butternut or Crown Prince. Cut into 1 inch chunks, and place in a roasting tin along with the bruised sage leaves, the garlic, peeled and thickly sliced, 150ml of olive oil and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.

Roast the squash in a pre-heated oven, set at 200 degrees, for 45 mins or until soft and coloured round the edges. Add 1 Tbls of olive oil along with the butter to a frying pan set over a medium heat, throw in the mushrooms that have been trimmed and cleaned and sliced, season them lightly with salt and pepper, fry for 4-5 mins or until cooked through. In a large mixing bowl combine the cooked squash, mushrooms, rocket and cheese. Lightly dress with the vinaigrette. Toss this all together and divide between the plates.

Gratin of purple sprouting broccoli with garlic, chilli, anchovies and cream

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This is a fantastically warming way to cook purple sprouting broccoli and delicious either on its own as a starter, or with roast lamb or mutton.

Serves

Four people

Ingredients

  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 dried chillies
  • Olive oil
  • 6- anchovy fillets
  • White wine or marsala
  • 400ml double cream
  • 500g purple sprouting broccoli
  • 100g grated parmesan

Method

Peel and thinly slice the garlic. De-seed and chop the chillies. Set a medium-sized, heavy-based pan over a medium heat and heat a good slosh of olive oil.

Throw in the garlic, chilli and anchovies. Fry until the garlic takes on a golden tinge around its edges.

Add a splash of white wine or marsala, boil for a few seconds and then add the double cream. Bring to a simmer and turn the heat down. Cook until the sauce is reduced by a third.

Blanch the purple sprouting broccoli in boiling water for a minute.

Drain and allow to steam dry. Lay the broccoli in an ovenproof dish, pour over the cream sauce and scatter with grated parmesan. Bake at 190°C/Gas Mark 5 for 10-12 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Try the same recipe with curly kale in the winter months.

Herb-roast chicken

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Serve with a green salad to mop up all the herby, buttery juices.

Serves

Four to Five people

Ingredients

  • 1 plump organic roasting chicken, weighing around 2kg
  • 50g soft butter
  • a couple of generous handfuls of fresh herbs, such as parsley, chives and marjoram, roughly chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1/2 glass of white wine
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat your Esse up to the middle part of (Very Hot)

Remove the bird from the fridge at least an hour before cooking it, ideally two or three. Take off any string trussing from the chicken, place the bird in a roasting tin and spread out its legs from the body. Enlarge the opening of the cavity with your fingers, so hot air can circulate inside the bird.

Put the butter in a bowl, throw in the herbs and the garlic and season well with salt and pepper. Mix together with your fingers, then smear all over the chicken, outside and in.
Place in the centre of the hot oven and leave for 15 minutes (phase 1).

Then baste the chicken, remove the bird from the top oven and pour the wine into the tin (not over the bird) and roast the bird for another 35–50 minutes in the bottom oven.(phase 2), depending on its size. (A good test for doneness is to pierce that part of the bird where the thigh joins the breast; the juices released should run clear). Rest the bird on top of the ESSE with the plate tops closed. I find this the perfect spot to rest all roasted meats.

For a bigger bird, at the longer end of the cooking time, you may wish to protect the bird’s skin with buttered foil for, say, the first 20-30 minutes of phase 2.

Carve the bird in the tin, as untidily as you please, letting the slices fall into the buttery juices, then take the whole thing to the table so people can help themselves.

Pizza with roast beetroot, kale, anchovies, and thyme

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I cook all my pizzas on the floor of my ESSE’s hot oven. You get that great crisp crust that is so typical of good stone baked pizza. The key is to get the oven really, really hot.

I rate beetroot. Its fantastic colour and taste make it one of our most unique root vegetables. It has a rich, earthy depth of flavour and is silky smooth to eat.

Boiling beetroot is good, but I think roasting it is better. You can roast them skin on, this keeps in all the flavour. Garlic, thyme and olive oil are a must. This combination works well as a warm salad with some boiled eggs or sirloin steak but also makes a fitting winter pizza topping.

Serves

Six People

Ingredients

  • Makes six small pizzas, at least
  • For the dough:
  • 250g strong white bread flour
  • 250g plain flour
  • 5g powdered dried yeast
  • 10g salt
  • 350ml warm water
  • About a tablespoon of olive oil
  • A handful of coarse flour (rye, semolina or polenta) for dusting
  • The topping ingredients are listed in the method

Method

Make the dough:

To knead by hand, mix the flour, yeast, salt and water in a bowl to form a sticky dough. Add the oil, mix it in, then turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Knead until smooth and silky.

To use a food mixer, add the flour, yeast, salt and water to the mixer, fitted with the dough hook, and mix on low speed. Add the oil, then leave to knead for about ten minutes, until smooth and silky.

Shape into a round, then leave to rise in a clean bowl, covered with a plastic bag, until doubled in size.

For the topping:

Wash and de-stalk a good bunch of young kale. Chop it roughly. Throw it into a pan set over a high heat with a few slugs of olive oil, 2 peeled, sliced garlic cloves and 2 dried chilli’s de-seeded and chopped.

Sweat the kale down; keep it moving around the pan, the kale has to be well wilted and all the water to have evaporated. Season the kale with salt and pepper and set aside.

Take 5 or 6 smallish beetroot and give them a really good scrub under a tap. Throw into a roasting tin with a few tablespoons of olive oil, 3 or 4 smashed garlic cloves and a generous scattering of thyme and rosemary leaves.

Season well with salt and pepper, then roast in a hot oven for 30 – 40 minutes until soft and crispy round the edges.

Divide the dough into 6 balls. Roll out each on a well floured work surface as thin as is practical 2- 3 mm max.

Scatter the roast beetroot over your pizza base, tear over some decent mozzarella and 6 or so anchovy fillets. Tear the wilted chard over the pizza. Season with salt, pepper, a glug of olive oil and a few more thyme leaves.

Lastly spoon over any roasting juices left over from cooking beetroot. I use a large base form a tart tin as a peel for putting my pizzas in the oven. You really have to make sure that your peel and your surface is well floured. Semolina or polenta flour is great for this as it is courser Lift the pizza up with your dusted peel.

Carefully slide each pizza onto the floor of your very hot oven (up to max). It’s best to do 1 at a time. It wont take long to cook – 3- 4 mins and there done.

Lemon sponge puddings

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You will also need 6 individual ramekins

Serves

Serves 6 people

Ingredients

  • Juice and grated zest of 2 lemons
  • Up to 75g of golden syrup
  • 100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g self-raising flour, sifted
  • pinch of salt

To Serve

  • Double cream, chilled

Method

Stir together 2/3rds of the lemon juice and the golden syrup.

Heat the mixture gently over a medium heat. Tip it into the pudding basin. Cream together the butter, lemon zest and caster sugar until it’s really light and fluffy. Beat in one egg at a time, adding a spoonful of flour with each, then fold in the remaining flour. Finally stir in the last of the lemon juice.

Spoon this mixture into the ramekins, the lemon juice and Syrup mixture will rise up the sides of the basin – don’t worry about this, and don’t attempt to stir it in with the batter.
Half fill a roasting tin with hot water; it needs to be big enough to fit the ramekins’ in.

Place the puddings in the roasting tin, the water should be coming half way up the sides of the puddings, close the door. The top oven should be reading ‘Hot’ on the dial.

Bake gently 45 minutes or until the puddings are cooked and well risen.

The ESSE is perfect for this type of cooking as it keeps in moisture which is perfect for delicate baking.

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